As biological and chemical sciences advance, scientists increasingly turn to separation techniques to isolate and analyze analytes. In particular, the chemical sciences are turning to enrichment methods to isolate and analyze ever smaller concentrations of compounds. In the biological sciences, scientists seek to isolate and analyze increasingly complex molecules, such as DNA, RNA, and proteins, such as enzymes.
In particular, compounds can be bound to dispersed substrates, such as particles or beads, and then isolated for analysis. In an example, a substrate bound to compounds can be applied to a sensor for analysis. In another example, the compounds can be separated from the substrates following isolation and can be analyzed separately. Such isolated substrates bound to compounds or analytes can be used for detecting trace amounts of chemical agents, biologically active reagents, or can be used in analyzing molecules, such as DNA or RNA. In particular, such dispersed substrates bound to polynucleotides or proteins can be used for sequencing.